


What if things were different

by Jaspveri (Jaspberi)



Category: Naruto
Genre: ANBU - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Secrets, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-04-26 19:51:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14409405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaspberi/pseuds/Jaspveri
Summary: Exactly as the title says.What if things were different? If Naruto and Sasuke weren't so alone, and if someone was willing to help Sakura more?





	1. Chapter 1

She's shivering.  
She's always shivering these days.  
Perched on the roof, she watches as her target sticks to the sides of the street.  
His hands are shoved in his pockets, and he isn't rushing down the street, but he isn't slow either.  
He's been much the same since being released.  
She leans back, and remains still as she watches him arrive at the Academy.  
But, she can't hang around watching a ten year old all day.  
She sighs and disappears in a swirl of leaves.

  
  
The target spends much of his time training.  
It isn't interesting to watch, but she watches all the same, and steps in to use medical jutsu when he collapses at the end of a long day.  
He never stirs when she returns him to his home.  
She passes a blond on occasion when returning her target to his home.  
The blond never notices her.  
But she finds herself curious about him, and considers making him her secondary target.  
With being ANBU, and frequently taking missions outside of the village, she shouldn't _have_ targets that weren't given to her as a mission.  
Currently, she sits perched watching her target attend the Academy.  
The blond is there also, he's loud, impossible to miss.  
She considers the fact that he doesn't have parents, that the people around him seem to regard him with disgust.  
  
He is a child.

When the children are released, she approaches him.  
His eyes go wide at the sight of her, 'Anbu-san,' he greets.  
Her voice is raspy when she speaks, 'you don't have anyone to help you outside of the Academy,' she notes.  
'Is something wrong, Anbu-san?'  
She considers him, 'I'll help you with your taijutsu.'  
'Oh wow,' he perks up, 'My name's Uzumaki Naruto!' he exclaims, 'And I'm going to be Hokage, believe it!'  
At this, she can't help but smile, not that anyone sees it through her mask.  
'How about a training partner?' she suggests, thinking of her target.  
Naruto looks curious, but bounces along after her, 'Who?'  
'Uchiha Sasuke.'  
Now he looks less excited, 'He's a baka,' remarks the blond dejectedly, 'believe it.'  
She shrugs, 'he's like you, no family, maybe he'd like to train with others.'  
'I guess,' Naruto lets a long drawn out sigh out.  
'We'll get ramen after training if Sasuke agrees to train with us,' she declares, making Naruto immediately ten times more excited.

 

Sasuke is reluctant to join them, but he does join them.

And she admittedly gets a kick out of watching Sasuke easily overpower Naruto in taijutsu.  
Naruto's only real advantage is how entirely unpredictable he is, which makes her reluctant to teach him how to do things properly.  
But he could be so much better at taijutsu, with the correct foundation for it.

She glances up at the sky, she has a mission later that day, but she had wanted to at least see her targets before leaving the village.  
'Is something wrong, Anbu-san?' asks Naruto, turning towards her.  
She's been helping them train for three weeks. She likes to think they've improved at least a little.  
Sasuke's still a cloud of gloom, and Naruto is still using most of his free time to pull pranks. But slowly they are growing.  
'I have to leave for a mission soon, I'll be out of Konoha for a week,' she tells him, watching his expression drop into a pout.  
His thoughts are displayed almost clearly on his face when he brightens up, 'Can I go with you?'  
She tilts her head, 'This isn't the kind of mission to bring an Academy student on.'  
'A future mission then!' exclaims the blond, and she notes that Sasuke even looks a little interested.  
'I'll think about it,' she decides. She could possibly get an easy mission to bring them on, but she'll have to get permission to take them with her.  
At least neither of them have parents to protest.  
Naruto dances around happily for a moment, 'But who will buy me ramen while you're away?!' he comes to a halt, going back into pout mode.  
She rolls her eyes, 'I cooked some meals and put them in your freezer,' she pauses, 'I assume you know how to heat a frozen meal up.'  
'Did you cook ramen?'  
'Yes,' she glances over at Sasuke, 'I left some meals in your freezer also.'  
Sasuke looks confused, 'How'd you get into my house?'

'I'm ANBU.'

 

She's surprised when she returns to the village and finds Sasuke and Naruto hanging out of their own choice.  
Her mission outside of the village ended up going two weeks longer than it was supposed to.  
She vaguely wonders if they were worried at all.  
Both males are perched on a log in the training grounds they generally go to.  
She's amused to note they're perched with their legs folded, facing each other as they share one of the meals she'd put in their freezers.  
Naruto makes a wordless noise of excitement when he sees her, 'Anbu-san! You were gone so long, and we couldn't even ask the Hokage about you because we don't know your name!'

'Mission went a little long, you two running out of frozen meals?' she shoves her hands into her pockets.  
Sasuke accepts the container back from Naruto and has the last bite of food, 'Naruto ran out on the second day you were gone and whined so much that I decided to share.'

'You two can have dinner at my place tonight,' she tells them, 'So you can tell me what you did while I was away.'

Naruto brightens up, 'A fresh meal??'

Even Sasuke looks at least a little eager.

They start walking towards her house, she's pointed it out to them before but they've never been in.  
The house is located close to the Uchiha compound, the compound being in sight when looking out the windows of one side of her house.

'You have such a nice house, believe it!'

She shrugs, the house is mostly empty, she'd been living there for a few years now, but she hadn't quite settled in.

'You need some plants,' continues Naruto, 'They make every house better, Sasuke and I went plant shopping last week, because he didn't have any plants, but now he has two.'

'I'll go plant shopping some time, then.'

'You gotta take me with you, I'm the best at choosing plants,' Naruto assured her.  
'And I believe it, too,' she replied, digging through her cupboards.

She's not surprised to note she has next to nothing in her cupboards, she had needed to go shopping before she'd left for her mission.

She sighs and straightens up, 'Looks like we're going grocery shopping.'

'You want us to go with you?' Naruto looks confused, he and Sasuke still follow after her anyway.

She shrugs, 'You both have meals at my place so often it makes sense you help decide with the groceries.'

Naruto's look of confusion turns to one of concern, 'are you wanting us to help pay for them?'

She can't help but snort at this, 'No, I'm good, just want to make sure I keep buying foods we all like.'

'Sasuke likes tomatoes,' supplies Naruto helpfully.

'And Naruto likes ramen, all ramen,' responds Sasuke, voice a quiet murmur.

She smiles at their comments, but doesn't answer.

Naruto is quick to locate the instant ramen in the store, he gestures to it with a flourish, 'Ramen!' he exclaims.  
'I think we can do better than that,' she replies, she heads over to the vegetables, collecting several things on her way.

Sasuke ignores their exchange and heads straight for the tomatoes.

'How are things going with that girl you like?' she asks absently, she passes off items to Naruto who sits them in the basket he's carrying.  
The blond pulls a sour expression, 'Sakura-chan still only likes Sasuke-baka, she always acts like . . .' Naruto trails off, unable to think of the correct words.

Quirking an eyebrow under her mask, she glances over at Naruto, 'How are you at reading?'

Naruto squints in return, 'why?'

'I started reading a great series of books, I thought you might like them,' in truth, she isn't sure Naruto got much help in learning to read, reading wasn't a focus when it came to the Academy, most at the Academy relied on the idea that the parents would teach reading and writing to their children.  
'Oh,' Naruto perks up, 'I'm a slow reader, but I can still read anything!' he exclaims.  
'I haven't finished the first book, maybe we could read together to get through them faster.'  
Naruto falters but forces a smile and nods enthusiastically.

Sasuke rejoins them, he glances over the items in the basket and doesn't comment.

'What do you think of Sakura, Sasuke?' she questions, not looking at either of the males behind her.

'She's too focused on her appearance and being girly,' Sasuke sounds unimpressed, 'She'll end up being useless as a ninja.'

Considering this, she nods after a moment, 'Haruno Sakura?'

Naruto bounces on the spot and nods happily, 'she has pink hair!'

Civilian family. As far as she understands, most of the kids in Naruto and Sasuke's class are clan kids, or at least kids with ninja families.  
It makes Sakura a bit of an oddity, asides from Naruto and Sasuke who just have no families.

'One of you should invite her to train with us,' she idly glances over her shoulder to see their reactions.  
Sasuke looks faintly disgusted, but Naruto looks excited at least.  
But apparently not about Sakura joining them for training, 'What are we getting for dessert??' he yells, drawing the attention of everyone around them.

 


	2. Chapter 2

She drops down from the roof, lands on his back and quickly slits his throat.  
It's not an effective, or tidy way of killing.  
But sometimes she likes to include a little interest in her missions.  
She wipes her kunei clean on her targets shirt, whistling idly.  
She's lucky the target is so isolated, seldom around other people.  
This mission had actually ended quicker than expected, and now all that's left is the journey back to the village.  
The village is a two days run away. Of course, she could always speed that trip up and not stop for any rest at all . . .  
It's irresponsible.  
But she's found herself attached to both Sasuke and Naruto, and just wants to be back in Konoha.  
And she was actually looking forward to meeting the girl Naruto was so obsessed with.  
Naturally, Naruto had approached Sakura about training with them as soon as it was suggested, but Sakura had immediately rejected him, leaving Naruto to pester Sasuke into asking her.  
Which, had taken some weeks.  
But finally, Sakura was going to be joining them for training, she had only agreed to one day, it was likely that she'd attend their training sessions anytime Sasuke asked. Which would be anytime Naruto pestered him enough.

 

By time she arrived in the village, she was exhausted.  
The Chunin at the gate were startled to see her, they typically didn't actually see Anbu as they returned from their missions out of village.  
One of them rushed out to meet her as she passed by, 'Are you okay?' he questioned, 'Do you need a medic?'  
Tiredly, she shakes her head, 'Just need to go to bed,' she murmurs.  
He nods hesitantly, and watches her continue into the village.  
Very quickly, Naruto and Sasuke find her.  
It constantly surprises her how quickly Naruto and Sasuke have settled into hanging around each other, it seems like Sasuke even tolerates Naruto more so now.  
'Anbu-san!' yells the blond, he doesn't notice how she's practically drooping as she walks, 'you're early, are you going to train us now?'  
Sasuke rolls her eyes, 'She's exhausted, she probably just wants to go to bed.'  
'Oh,' Naruto pouts, 'we'll just have to stay at her place tonight then!' he grabs her arm and starts dragging her towards her house, Sasuke just sighs and follows after.  
From where she'd been browsing a store, Sakura stares after them with a small level of interest, who was this member of Anbu?

 

'Do you have any interest in becoming a Jounin teacher?'  
She stared.  
Of all the things for the Hokage to want to see her about, she hadn't expected this to be it.  
'Me, a sensei?' she frowns at him.  
'I have heard from Naruto that you've been training him and Sasuke,' replies Hiruzen.  
She sighs, and stands, moving to look out the window over the village, 'you know why I'm training Sasuke, as for Naruto,' she pauses, 'he has no one else, the teachers at the Academy aren't doing enough for him.'  
'I could allow them to graduate early, have you as their sensei,' explains Hiruzen patiently.  
She shakes her head, 'they need the time in the Academy, they're kids, even the current graduation age is too young.'  
Hiruzen raises an eyebrow, but doesn't respond to that comment, 'Then when they graduate,' he proposes, 'you could pick the third member of their team.'  
'You seem almost desperate for me to take them,' she notes.  
'You know there aren't many people who will treat Naruto fairly,' allows Hiruzen, 'I'm trying to give him a chance.'  
She frowns, glancing at him before turning back to the window, 'I don't need to be his sensei to be there for him, if his sensei doesn't do enough for him, of course I'll help both him and Sasuke,' she pauses, 'The Haruno, you should put her on their team.'  
Hiruzen seems curious, but he doesn't question this, 'I'm giving you the next two weeks off, paid leave.'  
'What for?'  
'No reason,' Hiruzen hums.  
She sighs, 'hai,' and bows before disappearing in a puff of smoke.  
She finds Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura hanging around her backyard.  
It isn't a huge backyard, but the three students have taken to training there, Naruto had commented that he liked it was more private there.  
Sakura didn't seem as comfortable there as the boys were, but she perked up all the same when the elusive anbu member arrived.  
'Is there something we can call you other than Anbu-san?' asks Naruto, 'it gets confusing calling you that.'  
She hesitated, 'Haitaka,' she ends up deciding on.  
'Haitaka-sensei!' exclaims the blond.  
Haitaka sighs, but doesn't respond.  
'Is that your actual name?' asks Sasuke, voice barely above a murmur.  
'No.'

Sasuke frowns.  
'You all staying for dinner?' asks Haitaka lightly, 'I have no missions for the next two weeks, so you're all free to stay here whenever.'  
Naruto's eyes go wide, 'For the night??'  
The black haired female nods, shoving her hands into her pockets and leaning against her house, 'Yes, there's plenty of room.'  
'I want to be the first to stay the night at Haitaka-sensei's house!' yells Naruto, charging out of the yard to go pack a bag.  
'My parents will be expecting me tonight,' Sakura, surprisingly looks disappointed, Haitaka quietly decides to start taking Sakura aside sometimes. Perhaps she could start teaching Sakura some of the theory behind medical jutsu.  
'And you, Sasuke?' questions Haitaka, tilting her head to one side, she'd raise an eyebrow, but her mask prevents them from seeing her expression anyway.

Only the Hokage ever sees her face now.  
Sasuke falters, 'Uh, yeah, sure, I'll go pack a bag.'  
Haitaka watches him leave then gestures for Sakura to follow her into the house, 'You'll never have as much chakra as anyone you're placed on a team with, but you can use what chakra you do have by perfecting chakra control, and with good chakra control, you could learn medical jutsu.'  
'You think I should learn medical jutsu?' Sakura looks intrigued, but accepts the book Haitaka passes over.

'There's never enough meds around,' advises Haitaka, 'I can teach you the basics, but eventually you'll need a better teacher, which could very quickly get you stuck in the hospital, you'll have a lot of choices to make in future, but for now you have the time to simply, try things out.'  
Sakura opens the book and starts to flip through the pages, the book is filled with simple exercises she can do to improve her chakra control, and even a few tips on growing her chakra reserves.

'Iruka-sensei has never told me any of these things,' she looks slightly concerned, but Haitaka just shrugs, 'He might not think you're ready, but whether you're ready or not, depends on how much work you're willing to put into it.'  
'I don't want to be stuck as a med in the hospital,' declares Sakura after a few moments of thought.  
'Then I'll teach you what medical jutsu I can, and when you graduate, your sensei will teach you to be strong, but at least you'll always have the option to support your teammates by healing them.'

 

For the two weeks she doesn't have mission, she spends as much time with the three Academy students as they have free.  
Sasuke and Naruto become frequent quests in her house, and she knows better than to question it.  
She knows what she is doing for them isn't important, or even much, but she's proud to be teaching someone something.  
Until engaging the targets, all she'd really done was kill.  
It felt sometimes like she was swimming in blood.  
She wonders if that's how _he_ felt.

Sasuke is chomping at the bit to graduate early, he wants revenge, and part of that, is apparently getting stronger, quicker.  
Some days it's impossible to get him to stop training, so all she can do is sit and watch until he collapses.  
But now she doesn't have to carry him all the way home, she simply wakes him and helps him into her own house.  
She's the one to take Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke on their first mission. Their first mission, and their first mission out of the village.  
It's a simple mission, she couldn't take Academy students along if the mission was dangerous in any way.  
Two genin accompany them, having recently lost their third member and their jounin.  
Haitaka feels somewhat sorry for them.  
And one of them is at least interesting.  
Haruko was the only female on her team, both her genin teammates and jounin had all been male.

As a result, it seemed Haruko was determined to be better than her teammates.  
She wielded a large sword, almost taller than herself, and at each break, she would determinedly practise her taijutsu.

But also, her eyes were interesting.  
It wasn't often that Haitaka encountered someone with black eyes like that.

They completed the mission with ease.  
The journey to escort the client to Suna was as quick as it could be.  
And on returning to Konoha, Haitaka was actually disappointed with the realisation that she'd likely never encounter Haruko again.  
So her forth target was decided.  
Haruno Sakura having been the third.  
It's only slightly more difficult to trail after a Genin than it is to follow Academy students.  
'Haitaka-sensei!' Naruto is bouncing alongside her, 'our mission was so cool! And did you see Haruko-chan! She was prettier than Sakura-chan!'  
Haitaka is glad Sakura wasn't currently with them, watching Sakura punch Naruto was only funny some of the time.  
'And her teammate?'  
Naruto pulls a face, 'He was kinda mean.'  
It was true, Haruko's teammate had been dismissive of everything Haruko, Sakura, Naruto or Sasuke said, and had only listened to Haitaka.  
Even then, he clearly didn't think much of Haitaka.  
Haitaka hums in response, 'you staying tonight?'  
'Of course!' yells the blond cheerfully, Haitaka pauses to study him thoughtfully, but doesn't actually say anything.  
She doesn't mind that Naruto and Sasuke both seem to stay at her place more often than their own homes.  
It's nice to come home to people that are waiting for her.  
But she doubts they'd actually want to live with her, why would anyone actually want _her_.  
Sasuke joins them, he doesn't say anything, but makes it clear he intends to stay also.  
'Can we have ramen for dinner?' requests Naruto, tone level, Haitaka has made sure to insist he be polite when asking for things.  
'Only if you help me cook it,' replies Haitaka.  
Naruto pouts, 'I only make instant ramen.'

'I'll teach you how to cook the good kind of ramen.'  
She's been meaning to teach him how to cook anyway, and while she knows Sasuke has to know at least something about cooking, she wouldn't mind teaching him also.

 

It takes three weeks before Haruko notices she's being followed.  
She immediately challenges her follower.  
Haitaka has no issues stepping out from behind the tree she'd lazily leaned against.  
'Oh,' Haruko moves out of her offensive stance, 'you're the anbu I went on that mission with, Haitaka-san, why are you following me?'  
Haitaka shrugs and gestures for Haruko to continue walking, 'your skill with that sword is impressive,' she compliments.  
'So you're following me because you think I'm good with my sword?'  
'I wouldn't mind watching some of your training sessions,' comments Haitaka.  
Haruko stares at Haitaka, 'Don't you already have those three students?'  
'They aren't my students,' replies Haitaka, 'they still attend the Academy,' she pauses to consider, 'they're like family to me, none of them have living Shinobi left in their families to help them.'  
'The boys are orphans, the girls from a civilian family,' guesses Haruko.  
She glances to Haitaka again, 'I've been assigned a new team, two new teammates, a new sensei.'  
Haruko shrugs, 'Doesn't mean I can't teach you a thing or two.'  
'You really think I'm worth the time?'

'I wouldn't have followed you if I didn't.'  
'Huh,' goes Haruko, 'I wouldn't mind some help preparing for the Chunin exams.'  
Haitaka smiles.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could have had this posted way sooner  
> But I wasn't happy with how it was originally written  
> At first it was a lot shorter, with the entire end part in chapter 3 instead  
> So I just sort of merged chapter 2 with the old chapter 3 and removed a part that  
> Was really just too soon


	3. Chapter 3

 

Haitaka enjoys training Haruko.  
The genin is strong in both personality and physical strength.  
She hates sweet things, and has an absolute determination to succeed.  
Haitaka has no doubts about Haruko's likelihood to succeed in everything she puts her mind to.  
She'd just rather the younger female not focus so much on . . . the idea of Haitaka adopting Sasuke and Naruto.

They still didn't even know her actual name, and they probably didn't like her much beyond her being a useful person to them.  
The pair seem to have claimed two of the empty rooms to her house, and Haitaka can't say she minds.  
And now Haitaka has more people she trusts.  
For a long time she hadn't been able to sleep if she was around anyone, but she can sleep if any of the three Academy students are in her house.  
She also has another person she goes maskless around.  
Until now, she only ever removed her mask when she was alone or with the Hokage, but Haruko didn't seem to recognise her in the slightest, so Haitaka was happy to remove her mask when it was just them.  
'I bet you'd be a great mom,' says Haruko, she's perched on a boulder watching as Haitaka idly practises using a larger sword.  
The sword isn't quite as big as Haruko's own sword, but it's close.  
Haitaka snorts and rolls her eyes, 'No ones going to let an eighteen year old adopt a pair of ten year olds.'  
'You mentioned the Hokage already asked if you wanted to be their sensei,' Haruko replies, 'If you wanted to adopt them, I bet he'd allow it.'  
Haitaka hums and doesn't respond, she notes a familiar chakra approaching and drops into a more casual stance, attaching the sword to her belt at her hip and sliding her mask back on.  
'Haitaka-sensei!' yells Naruto as he bursts into the training grounds, Haitaka turns to him, 'Aren't you supposed to be at the Academy?'  
Naruto scowls, 'Everyone there hates me, and you're a better teacher anyway.'  
Haitaka rolls her eyes, resigned to spending the rest of the day attempting to teach Naruto whatever his class was currently learning, 'What are they doing in your class today?'

 

'I want you to move in with me,' says Haitaka, voice clear and firm.  
Haruko nearly drops her sword, 'What?'  
'You heard me.'  
Haruko shifts, hooking her sword onto the strap she wears so the sword rests against her back, 'You want me to live with you?' she questions, 'why?'  
'I know you've been wanting to move out of your parents house,' Haitaka shoves her hands into her pockets, 'And I have a large house, it makes sense for us to live together.'  
'Have you asked Naruto and Sasuke to move in?' questions Haruko, raising an eyebrow.  
Haitaka sighs and doesn't answer, which prompts Haruko to roll her eyes, 'I'll move in with you when Sasuke and Naruto do.'  
'If Sasuke doesn't hate me after he finds out who I am,' grumbles Haitaka, she unhooked the large sword from her hip, gestures for Haruko to approach her.  
'Even if Sasuke hated you, he'd still want you to help him train, he recognises that he'll get further if he accepts aid from others,' Haruko informs her, unhooking her own sword again and moving forward to accept Haitaka's challenge.  
'At least Naruto would be excited enough about it,' notes Haitaka, 'I bought a series of books and have had him reading them to me each night he stays,' she ducks under Haruko's sword and smiles faintly, 'He's a good kid.'  
Haruko snorts, 'He's only eight years younger than you.'  
'And three years younger than you,' drawls Haitaka, 'doesn't make him any less of a kid.'  
Haruko suddenly comes to a halt, stopping her sword mid swing, 'Are you wearing weights?!' she demands.  
'Uh, yeah?'

'Show me.'  
Hooking the sword back onto her belt, Haitaka unstraps the guards on her forearms, revealing the weights resting underneath, she then perches on a boulder to start undoing the straps on her boots.  
'How many weights are you wearing exactly?' asks Haruko with a frown.  
'One on each forearm, one in the bottom of each boot, then one wrapped around each thigh,' responds Haitaka, '15kgs each for the ones in my boots, 5kgs for each forearm, 8kgs for each thigh,' she has her boots off now, and shows the weights in the soles to Haruko.  
'Do those also make you taller?'  
'10 cm taller,' declares Haitaka proudly, she removes her pants and unwraps the weights from around her thighs.  
Haruko stares, as the older female is now the same height as herself.  
'I see why you wear boots to make yourself taller, I'm 13 and I'll probably be taller than you by the end of this year,' Haruko observes, '56 kgs in weights,' she picks up the thigh ones and wraps them onto her own thighs before hopping on the spot for a moment, meanwhile Haitaka has removed her forearm weights and is idly stretching.  
'This is ridiculous,' Haruko tells her, putting on the rest of Haitaka's weights, 'these have to weigh more than you do.'  
Haitaka laughs, 'Did you want to see them for any particular reason?'  
'I just never noticed them before,' replies Haruko absently as she awkwardly walks around in the boots.  
Quietly Haitaka puts her mask back on, then shoves her hands into her pockets, 'Thinking about starting to wear some weights?' she asks.  
'Maybe,' agrees Haruko, 'But not as many as you.'  
'Uh, Haitaka-sensei?' a shy voice interrupts them.  
Haitaka immediately turns her attention to Sakura, the pink haired student looks incredibly nervous, which makes Haitaka raise an eyebrow, she had thought that Sakura had been getting better around her.  
'Something up?' asks Haitaka, she notices when Haruko starts taking all the weights off.  
Sakura blinks, suddenly noticing that Haitaka isn't wearing any pants, she stares for a long moment before speaking, 'I want to graduate early, I feel like I'd benefit more from a sensei that doesn't have an entire class to focus on.'  
'And you want me to get you up to being able to graduate early,' guesses Haitaka.  
Sakura nods.  
Haitaka accepts her weights back from Haruko, she pauses before putting any of them on, 'Lets go shopping,' she decides, and finally secures the weights in place, 'You'll need better gear as a genin anyway, may as well get a head start.'  
'But sensei, I can't afford more gear,' mumbles Sakura, following after Haitaka anyway.  
Haitaka waves her off, 'I'll buy your gear today, you can repay me by being an outstanding ninja.'

 

Sakura ends up being the third person that Haitaka doesn't wear her mask around.  
The pinkette just eyes her thoughtfully and doesn't comment.  
They stay up all night at Haitaka's house, surrounded in books.  
Haitaka is aware that Sakura is good at studying books, so she figures they may as well focus first on getting all the knowledge Sakura will need into her.  
As soon as the sky rises, Haitaka has Sakura out training despite her fogginess from having been up all night.  
While Sakura is running laps, Haitaka requests the next week off.  
She doesn't think Sakura will actually be at genin level within a week, but she can get Sakura ready to graduate regardless.  
Hopefully Sakura will get a competent jounin for her sensei.  
When she returns to the training ground she left Sakura in, she's mildly surprised to see Sakura is still working hard.  
Sakura has now started attempting to move chakra to her feet to walk up the tree, her expression one of fierce determination.  
'Take a rest,' commands Haitaka, she looks Sakura over, noting the sheen of sweat, 'you're done for the day, you can rest at my house.'  
'Are you sure?' Sakura pants, she had flopped to the ground as soon as Haitaka had told her she could rest.  
Haitaka snorts, 'Of course, you can have some rice before you go to sleep,' she moves over and helps Sakura to her feet.  
The walk to Haitaka's house is slow, but Haitaka is unbothered by this.  
They arrive to her house at the same time as Naruto and Sasuke.

'Haitaka-sensei! Sakura-chan!' yells Naruto excitedly on seeing them.  
Sasuke looks somewhat curious, but he doesn't say anything, just retrieves the hidden key and unlocks the door to let Haitaka and Sakura in. Haitaka really isn't sure when Sasuke learnt where she hid the key.  
Inside, Sasuke heads straight for the kitchen, he's carrying a bag of groceries, and so is Naruto.  
'We want to cook a huge meal for you, Haitaka-sensei!' yells Naruto, 'And for Sakura-chan, too, of course.'

'To thank you for all the meals you've cooked for us,' mutters Sasuke.  
Haitaka stares.  
She has to tell them who she is.

 


	4. Chapter 4

 

She invites the three Academy students and Haruko over for dinner a week later.  
She's spent the last week with Sakura, training the young female and hopefully getting her ready to graduate from the Academy.  
It's two years early, which means Sakura would be younger than any members of a team she got put on if she were to graduate. Haitaka is pretty sure she's more apprehensive about it than Sakura is.  
Sasuke comes over before the others to help her cook, he's taken a liking to cooking.  
She takes her seat at the table, Sakura is beaming, clearly happy to be there.  
'I have something to tell you all,' Haitaka takes a deep breath, stomach fluttering with nerves, she reaches up and removes her mask.  
Sasuke's gaze immediately sharpens as he takes in her features, the two scars curling up from her jaw, the scar through her eyebrow, and the one below her eye on the same side of the face as the eyebrow one. His gaze settles on the one going through her eyebrow and he falters, '  
'My name is Ito Shiori,' she nods to Sasuke, 'Sasuke's mother is my older sister, we only share the same father.'  
'I always assumed you died in the massacre,' mutters Sasuke, casting his gaze downwards now.  
Naruto just looks confused.  
'By some kind of fluke, I wasn't at the Compound the night of the massacre,' Shiori inclines her head in a nod towards Sasuke, 'It helps that I'm not Uchiha by name, I joined Anbu right after the massacre and used it to stay in hiding.'  
'Stay in hiding?' inquires Sakura, 'what for?'  
Shiori shrugs, 'I wasn't sure if he would come back if he knew I was alive.'  
The look to Sasuke's eyes hardens, he deliberately looks in the other direction.  
'So you're Sasuke's aunt,' Sakura looks curious, she looks from Sasuke to Shiori, trying to see the similarities. She supposes they have the same eyes, the same colour hair and skin, maybe even slight similarities in shape of face, but that's all they have in common.  
'But that isn't the only reason I invited you all over,' notes Shiori, she studies Sasuke for a moment, noting his closed off expression, 'I wanted to invite Naruto and Sasuke to move in with me.'  
Naruto's eyes go wide, he straightens up, _'you want me to live with you??'_  
'Yes, and Haruko too,' responds Shiori, she then glances to Sakura and smiles, 'And of course you're welcome to stay here as much as you want.'  
Sasuke doesn't say anything, Shiori hesitates before speaking again, 'You can all take as much time as you need to decide.'

  
===============================================  
  
Naruto and Haruko move in the next day while Sasuke takes longer to decide.  
The first night with other people living with her, Shiori is surprised when Haruko and Naruto work together to cook dinner.  
As soon as she takes a bite, it's obvious that Haruko was the one to make most of the decisions, as, despite cooking lessons from Shiori, Naruto's cooking skills are still lacking.  
Ultimately, Sasuke moves in.  
He takes very few possessions with him, and often seems to vanish into his room or out into the backyard.  
Shiori isn't too concerned by this, it's not everyday that one discovers they have more family alive than they thought they did.  
The week following, Shiori leaves anbu.  
It's a difficult decision, she still fears Itachi returning to the village just to kill her.  
But she wants to be around more for these students she's grown so fond of.  
And Sakura graduates.  
Shiori can immediately tell that Sasuke and Naruto both are envious of Sakura graduating early.  
Sakura doesn't get a genin team, instead she's given a jounin sensei, and informed she'll be added to a team with two other genin in two years.  
Shiori has no issues against this, it means Sakura gets a jounins attention focused solely on her.  
'How come Sakura-chan graduated early?' chirps Naruto, today he and Sasuke are working together to cook dinner.  
'She trained hard because she felt she would benefit more from having a jounin sensei,' replies Shiori absently, sifting through her mail.  
Haruko comes charging into the house then, she slams her sword down on the table, sending Shiori's pile of mail flying.  
'Oh,' goes Shiori, staring at the mess.  
'My sensei!' yells the genin, 'wont put forward my team for the Chunin exams!'  
Shiori quirks an eyebrow, 'He must not think your team is ready for them yet, it's not a bad thing to stay genin.'  
'Yes it is,' insists Haruko, 'I need to be making progress, a promotion is a result of progress!'  
Now Haruko slumps into a chair at the table, ignoring how her movement sends the mail fluttering again, 'My team is holding me back,' she complains.  
Before anyone can respond, there's a knock at the door and Sakura comes in, she notices the mail scattered everywhere right away and shoots a confused look at Shiori.  
'Haruko was a bit angry,' explains Shiori.  
Sakura hesitates, then nods, moving forward and starting to gather the mail into one pile, 'Ahri-sensei was happy with my progress today, she wants to push for getting another pair of genin so we can have a proper team.'  
Haruko eyes Sakura, 'Think you'll do the Chunin exams early too?'  
'Uh,' Sakura falters, she looks to Shiori, Shiori snorts, 'Sakura wont be ready for the Chunin exams any earlier than your current team will be,' she tells Haruko.  
Haruko huffs and finally removes her sword from the table.  
Sasuke comes over to the table to start serving dinner, Sakura frowns as she now sees Sasuke, Haruko and Shiori all at once.  
All three have the same eyes, in both colour and shape, and when Haruko smiles her smile is more of a smirk, but it's still similar to Shiori's. Haruko also has long black hair the same shade as the two Uchiha.  
Sakura can't help but stare at the three over the course of dinner now that she's seen these similarities.  
At the end of dinner, Shiori takes Sakura aside, 'Was something wrong?' enquires the older female, 'you were quiet during dinner.'  
'It's Haruko-chan,' replies Sakura, 'She just, looks so similar to you and Sasuke-kun?'  
'So you noticed that, too,' muses Shiori, she shoves her hands into her pockets.  
Sakura quirks an eyebrow, 'So is she related to you both?'  
'I'm really not sure,' answers Shiori honestly, 'It's possible she is, but if she is, she isn't aware of it.'  
'Which would explain her surviving the massacre,' Sakura thinks out loud, 'The Uchiha can't have been aware of her,' Shiori nods in quiet agreement.  
'I'll look into it, I didn't before because I wasn't sure anyone else had noticed the similarities,' explains Shiori, she gestures for Sakura to follow her and they head back into the living room, where Sasuke, Naruto and Haruko are playing a loud game of cards.  
Of course, most of the noise is coming from Haruko and Naruto.  
Both Haruko and Naruto are generally excitable, and they seem to bounce off each others energy quite well.  
'Are you staying tonight, Sakura-chan?' asks Naruto, he nearly throws his cards onto the ground in his excitement.  
Sakura nods, 'But I can't stay up too late, Ahri-sensei wants to start training early tomorrow,' she pulls a face, 'then we're doing a mission, but it'll probably be something boring like finding another cat or cleaning someone's fence.'  
Haruko laughs at the look on Sakura's face, 'More reason to rush for Chunin.'

  
===============================================  
  
Sasuke very quickly gets used to waking up Naruto each morning.

Their rooms are side by side, but Sasuke finds they never sleep in seperate rooms.  
He isn't sure why, but Naruto seems to insist on 'sleepovers' every night, they alternate between the two bedrooms.  
He can't say he minds it.  
The loudness of Shiori's house is so vastly different to the Compound.  
Haruko and Naruto are always making noise somewhere, sometimes even talking loudly to each other.  
This morning when Sasuke wakes up, he glances over at Naruto and thinks, _'yeah, this might be alright.'_

As soon as Naruto is awake he's full of energy, Sasuke will never understand how the blond goes from 0 to 100 so quickly.  
All the same, Sasuke allows Naruto to grab his arm and drag him out of the room into the kitchen.  
Haruko is perched on the kitchen bench looking sleepy, she watches them as they prepare breakfast for themselves.

Sasuke is mildly surprised to note his aunt doesn't seem to be around, even more surprised at how naturally calling her his aunt comes.

Before the massacre, he had been aware of her existence, but she was illegitimate, a strain on the Clan in their view, so he had seldom actually talked to her.  
He eyes Haruko, considering asking her where Shiori is, but he isn't sure if it's important to know where Shiori is so he can't bring himself to ask.  
'Where's Shi-san?' chirps Naruto, he had taken to calling her Shi-san, Sasuke isn't sure what to think about that, but he's grateful that Naruto has asked the question he couldn't bring himself to ask.  
'She's spending the day with Sakura-chan and her sensei,' Haruko yawns, 'She's going to help Ahri-san get two more genin for her team.'  
'We should graduate early so we can be on a team with Sakura-chan!' yells Naruto, 'we'd be an awesome team, believe it!'  
Haruko rolls her eyes, 'I doubt Ahri-san would be accepted as Sasuke's sensei, they'll want someone who knows something about the Sharingan to be his sensei.'  
'The Sharingan?' Naruto looks confused.  
'Don't worry about it,' mutters Sasuke, looking in the other direction.  
  
===============================================

Shiori in her travel gear, of course she usually wears a mask also.  


 


	5. Chapter 5

 

Two years pass.  
Sakura remains without more genin on her team, but she gets the impression that Ahri-sensei and Shi-san are planning something.  
She's not really sure what, and she's sure it'll be something that'll benefit her eventually anyway, the pair seem to often collaborate on things to improve her skills and general well being.

Like the fact that Sakura now trained during the weekends with Shi-san, Naruto and Sasuke.

The rest of her week was still time dedicated to her sensei, but the weekend was the only time Sasuke and Naruto had free.  
Sakura had to admit she enjoyed her weekend training, she loved learning how to work within a team better.

Today, she'd been told to go to a room at the Academy at a certain time.  
Now, she knew Sasuke and Naruto had graduated the day before, so she had a slight inkling as to what might happen, but she didn't want to voice her thoughts out loud just yet in case she was wrong.  
To add to that, Sakura had been told by Ahri-sensei that she was going to the Academy because she was being assigned a new sensei.  
This news made Sakura feel kind of sad, she'd grown to like and appreciate Ahri-sensei, it seemed only Ahri-sensei and Shi-san ever cared about her future as a Shinobi and really focused on her.  
Her sensei at the Academy had been decent, but they'd had more students to focus on.

Her feet are silent as she walks down the halls of the Academy, walking silently is second nature to her now, she closes her eyes and draws in a deep breath before entering the room.  
Sasuke and Naruto sit perched at desks inside the classroom.  
Relief floods through her at the sight of them, she couldn't imagine being on a team with someone else.  
She knew Sasuke was still arrogant, and sometimes uncaring towards others or anything that wasn't his goal. But she also felt he had somewhat softened, he seemed to actually respect her a little since she graduated before him.  
And Naruto was as hyper and bouncy as ever, but he wasn't quite so startling anymore. His bursts of energy were something that comforted Sakura more than startled now, she found herself hating being in the quiet, preferring the company of Sasuke and Naruto.

Sasuke's gaze flickers and he nods to her, Naruto perks up at the sight of her, 'Sakura-chan!' yells the blond.  
'Naruto,' greets Sakura, voice calm, she shoves her hands into her pockets, a habit she'd picked up from being around Shi-san so often. Shi-san never had her hands in view, always shoving them into her pockets or folding her arms across her chest so her hands were hidden.  
Sakura had a great deal of respect for both Shi-san and Ahri-sensei.  
'I'm so happy we're on a team together!' yells the blond, 'and we get to meet our sensei today! Do you think we'll get Ahri-san?'

'No,' says Sakura, 'Ahri-san is doing something else, she couldn't say what.' From Ahri-san's vagueness, Sakura assumed her old sensei was joining anbu.

Naruto grabs an eraser from the board at the front of the board, 'Our sensei is taking too long,' he complains as he sets up a trap. A simple one, so the eraser will fall on their sensei's head as soon as the door is opened.

'That prank can't work,' Sakura frowns, she likes Naruto's pranks sometimes, but she's not sure she approves of pranking their sensei the first time they meet them.

'It'll totally work,' replies Naruto confidently, Sasuke frowns, 'it's a little too basic for a jounin to fall for it.'

Sakura smiles as she listens to them argue about whether or not it'll work, she hops up onto one of the desk and settles into a comfortable position to meditate.  
Sometimes if Sakura came over early enough in the morning, she would mediate with Shi-san.

  
===============================================  
  
On her twentieth birthday, Shiori applies to be Naruto and Sasuke's guardian.  
Now that the pair are genin, they are considered adults, but all the same, she'd like to be the one making choices for them if either are unable to.  
The paperwork is, quite frankly, annoying.  
But she sees Sasuke slowly gaining happiness, sees how Sakura starts to appreciate Naruto more and sees how Naruto is so much less lonely around them.

She also decides it's time to tell Haruko about her parentage.  
Two years earlier, Shiori had gone hunting through records she wasn't allowed access to, and found the truth of Haruko's parents.  
Both of Haruko's parents were Uchiha, an accidental pregnancy between two teenagers.  
So she'd been given to a different mother, and grown up thinking her father had been some random one night stand.  
Haruko is lucky her birth parents had been too embarrassed, she would have been accepted into the clan had they told anyone. But they hadn't, so Haruko had survived the massacre, safe in her home on the other side of the village.

She gets the last of the paperwork cleared, and heads home.  
She knows Haruko is there waiting for her, she'd made sure that morning to request Haruko stay home.  
Sasuke and Naruto are at the Academy, waiting for Sakura and Hatake Kakashi.  
For the last two years, Shiori had been working with Ahri to make sure the three students would be on the same team, and it had turned out Hatake was the best fit to be their sensei.

'Shi-san,' greats Haruko, she's relaxed in the living room, sword leaned against her chair.

'I have some information for you,' answers Shiori, deciding she'd rather get it done with quick, she hands over the scroll with the relevant information.

Haruko quirks an eyebrow before unfurling it to read it, she goes very still as she does.

'Does my adopted mother know who my real parents were?' asks Haruko softly once she's done reading.  
'I'm not sure,' answers Shiori, she studies the younger female for any reaction, but Haruko doesn't display anything but thoughtfulness.  
Haruko rolls the scroll up, glances at Shiori, 'Can I keep this?'

'Of course.'  
  
===============================================  
  
Their sensei does fall for Naruto's prank.  
And they all head to the roof to introduce themselves.  
Hatake Kakashi . . . is interesting, in Sakura's opinion at least.  
He informs them all of where to meet him the next day, for an early morning test, and tells them not to eat breakfast so they don't puke.  
Sakura quickly makes up her mind to not skip breakfast.  
She supposes she doesn't have as much to lose as Sasuke and Naruto, if she fails, she'll just go back to Ahri-san, while they'd be sent back to the Academy.

But Sakura is confident, she's sure that they can pass whatever Hatake-sensei throws at them.

Her head is in the clouds as she makes her way home.  
She knows her parents will want to hear about her day, will want her to eat dinner with them, that her mom will comment on how much she's eating lately.  
She can't help being an active shinobi, she needs the calories, knows now how foolish she was to restrict previously.

Her moms words sting, but she wont admit this out loud.  
Neither of the older Haruno understand, they're civilians.

Sakura is tempted to change course and go to Shiori's house for the night instead, she knows her teammates would happily accept her.  
But for whatever reason, her feet take her home.

The sky is dark when she reaches the front door, and she heads straight up to her room to flop onto her bed.  
Since becoming Ahri's student, Sakura had gradually been collecting up more sensible clothing, and also more gear. Her room reflects this, there's practical clothing folded neatly on her drawers, weapons under her bed.  
She figures she wants the weapons close to her at all times, and at home, she's only ever in bed, in the bathroom, or at the dining room table. That is to say, Sakura avoids home.

She's pleased with the variety in her weapons.  
By no means is she an expert in any single weapon, but she likes to know how to use them at least.  
The training she enjoyed most with weapons, was training alongside Haruko, learning to use a giant sword.  
Sakura thinks she could be good at fighting with a sword like Haruko does, but instead she's more taijutsu focused.  
She wishes she could get physically stronger, quicker. But progress cannot be rushed.  
She also spent days at a time at the hospital, learning bits and pieces of medical jutsu.  
Sakura's confident in Team 7. Confident in keeping those she cares about safe.  
  
===============================================  
  
The day Team 7 have their test, Shiori is sent out on a mission, with Haruko to back her up.  
It's Haruko's first time on this kind of mission, and Shiori is curious to see how she'll go.  
But also, Shiori is finding concentrating on the mission difficult.  
She wants to be back in Konoha, watching them take their test, rather than on her way to some village in the middle of nowhere to assassinate several targets.  
A part of her wonders if maybe the Hokage assigned her out of the village deliberately.  
Behind her, Haruko is a lot more quiet than usual.  
This new quiet Haruko is strange to be around in comparison to the Haruko that was never quiet, that was always eager to talk at length to anyone she cared about, she never really spoke to people she didn't know well.  
Shiori had considered herself lucky to be a person Haruko talked to for quite some time, and found herself missing the easy chatter that Haruko normally kept up.  
She supposed Haruko was still absorbing the news of her parents.  
They arrive at the location after several days of travel, and quickly complete the mission.  
Haruko is still barely speaking.  
But finally, on the way back to Konoha, she asks, 'Should we tell Sasuke?'

Surprised, Shiori momentarily stops walking, 'What for?'

'He should know there's another Uchiha alive, I guess?' Haruko looks uncertain, the expression doesn't look natural on her.  
'If you think so,' replies Shiori easily.  
'Will you be there with me when I tell him?'  
Shiori glances at Haruko, 'Sure.'  
'The Chunin exams are next year,' Haruko sighs, apparently happy to move on from the subject of family now, 'My sensei still doesn't think my team is ready for it.'  
'You're ready for it,' replies Shiori with confidence.  
Haruko's shoulders slump, 'I'm glad someone thinks I am.'

'We could increase your training for a bit leading up to the exams,' notes Shiori, 'If your sensei won't get you ready, then you find someone else.'

'My team needs to be ready too.'

Shiori hums and doesn't reply to this, Haruko rolls her eyes.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if it goes too fast to start with.  
> Before the formation of Team 7 isn't really the focus.
> 
> This is actually a rewrite of something I had posted on another account, but the concept has changed quite a bit.


End file.
